It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Friday, June 28th. I’m Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - Presented by Cheyenne Frontier Days - starting July 19th, from sun-up to sun-down - there’s something for everyone! Check it out at C-F-D RODEO DOT COM!
The debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump had plenty of political and personal fireworks - and even a mention of former Wyoming congresswoman Liz Cheney. But for Wyoming’s congressional delegation, there’s no debate about who clearly won the night. Politics reporter Leo Wolfson spoke to the three delegates.
“After the debate on Thursday night between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, Wyoming Congresswoman Harriet Hageman came to the conclusion that first lady Jill Biden is guilty of elder abuse for letting President Biden debate Trump. Almost universally, pundits said the performance was a complete failure for Biden.”
U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis told Cowboy State Daily the difference between Biden and Trump is clear after the debate, adding that she is quote, “gravely concerned” for what another Biden presidency would mean for Wyoming.
Read the full story HERE.
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To conform with state law, Wyoming’s largest school district has adopted a policy requiring teachers to notify parents of changes in a student’s character or wellbeing.
The Cheyenne-based school district took its policy a step further than state law, and specified that this includes students’ requests to change their names, according to Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland.
“The bulk of the change they had to make, because the Wyoming Legislature passed the Parental Rights In Education Act this past winter… Like, we're gonna let parents know if we're teaching about sexual orientation, we're going to notify parents of serious changes in a kid's character or well being. The law did not go so far as to specify, we will tell parents if the kid changes his or her name, or asks us to call him a different name. But the Laramie County school district policy did, it did add that criterion.”
The new wording could go into effect as a permanent policy around the start of the new school year.
Read the full story HERE.
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The state of Wyoming is financing rare earths mining projects that could eventually become the largest in the United States, with a goal to loosen China’s grip on the market.
Cowboy State Daily’s Pat Maio reports that on Thursday, one of the leading rare earths mining projects in Wyoming received $7.1 million in financial backing from two state energy-related agencies, to advance further exploration of the strategic minerals.
“This would be going to American Rare Earths. It's a big deal, because it's the second such rare earths company that the state has awarded money to. Two years ago it awarded money –a little bit over 4 million to a company up in Upton that's doing a novel demonstration plant. That plant should be opening up here shortly in the next month or so. And so this will be the second second plant.”
The grant will help advance further exploration, drilling and sampling on state mineral leases, build a pilot processing plant, and study local economic impacts of its operation when it ramps up in a few years.
Read the full story HERE.
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A renowned photo taken by legendary photographer Ansel Adams that’s already an iconic image - the Tetons and the American West - has found another public gallery to hang: in the top right hand corner of envelopes as the latest in the series of “Forever Postage Stamps” issued by the U.S. Postal Service.
On Wednesday morning, standing at the very spot Adams set up his tripod to snap that famed photo 82 years ago, a small gathering commemorated the new stamp series, and Cowboy State Daily’s Jake Nichols was there.
“It's the idea of the United States Postal Service to honor Ansel Adams’ legacy with this stamp series, 16 stamps. You know, the one we're interested in Wyoming is the photo he took that's included in this series in Grand Teton National Park overlooking the Snake River, with the Tetons looming in the background. It is gorgeous.”
Customers can buy the stamps through the Postal Store or at their local post office. Hurry, though, because Forever Stamps will increase in price from 68 cents to 73 cents on July 17.
Read the full story HERE.
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Close encounters with mule deer in Laramie’s Greenhill Cemetery isn’t anything out of the ordinary. What is new, are the red-lettered signs posted near the cemetery’s entrances, warning dog owners to think twice about walking their pups there. Outdoors reporter Mark Heinz says there’s a protective mama deer who isn’t afraid to go after dogs that might threaten her baby.
“ I go out for walks as frequently as I can, usually during the evenings. And my walk almost always takes me past the Green Hill Cemetery here in Laramie and I turned and looked at on the on the fences it's notice it says dog walkers beware… So I went to the cemetery today and spoke with some of the staff and yes, there is a mother deer with a fawn there in the cemetery. That she's okay with people. But she just does not like have having dogs around apparently a dogs around her baby or too much. And she did go for somebody.”
While no human or canine has been hurt by the protective mother deer, cemetery staff say they’ve posted signs out of an abundance of caution.
Read the full story HERE.
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Animal rights activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, has long lobbied against the sport of rodeo because they consider it cruel to the stock animals. The group contends that Wyoming’s logo is a “rodeo-glorifying design” and therefore a promotion of animal cruelty.
Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that a request made by PETA to replace the iconic bucking horse and rider logo from Wyoming license plates isn’t going over well with Wyoming folks.
“I talked to a number of different people - Tom Herzig, CEO of Cheyenne Frontier Days, said that Steamboat, which is the horse that's represented on the logo, a legendary horse of his own right, he believes is the epitome of Wyoming heritage. And that's not a more coveted symbol of Wyoming than Steamboat.”
Instead of the bucking bronc and rider, PETA proposes the license plates depict either the skull of a triceratops, the state dinosaur, or a wild mustang without a rider.
Read the full story HERE.
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Jurassic Fireworks and Artillery World, fireworks businesses on the Wyoming-Colorado border, are back in business for the Fourth of July fireworks season - for now.
The sister stores were temporarily shut down by the Laramie County Board of Commissioners because of complaints by neighboring businesses that the company’s sales tactics were, quote, obnoxious.
Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean says an order issued by Laramie County District Court Judge Robin Cooley forced the Laramie County Board of Commissioners to issue both stores temporary conditional permits for the 2024 Fourth of July season.
“Usually when we hear about temporary injunctions, it's to stop an action that's about to occur. But in this case, what it does is it forces the county to issue a permit… But the end result is the same. It's all about preserving the status quo. So the status quo could not be preserved as the case is ongoing. If the business can't operate, in order to operate, the business needs the permit.”
Owner Breana Elliott said the two businesses would lose more than $2 million in sales if they could not operate in 2024.
Read the full story HERE.
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Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has reversed a sweeping injunction on government censorship of social media companies, Wyoming’s lone U.S. House representative says Congress must enact its own speech protections.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Representative Harriet Hageman’s statement came in response to the high Court’s ruling that reverses an injunction that had blocked the federal government from coercing social media companies into censoring protected speech.
“Justice Alito called this one of the most significant free speech cases of our time, and he said that the Supreme Court majority would regret not taking it up. But the majority, led by Justice Amy Barrett, on the other hand, said, it doesn't matter. We can't take it up. Because the plaintiffs don't have standing. They didn't show that the government's likely to do this again.”
Hageman said the Judiciary Committee and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government will keep investigating what she calls the, quote, “unconstitutional proxy use of social media companies to censor Americans’ speech.”
Read the full story HERE.
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The ballot in southwest Wyoming will look familiar for the Republican primary for House District 18.
Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that current and former legislators Scott Heiner and Tom Crank are facing off for the fourth time in eight years.
“Crank served in the legislature from 2016 to 2020. But then Heiner beat him in the 2020 election by 10 votes. So now they're squaring off again for an old fashioned rematch. The two are both Republicans but…Heiner is a proud member of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, a group of farther right Republicans in the Wyoming house… Crank opposes the Freedom Caucus and he believes they're bringing kind of nationalist ideology to Wyoming issues.”
The last time they faced each other in 2020, Heiner beat Crank, then the incumbent, by only 10 votes.
Read the full story HERE.
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Like clockwork, a nova from the star T Coronea Borealis has been seen every 80 years for centuries. Astronomers expect the explosion to appear in the skies a couple years early this time - which means it should be visible above Wyoming before the end of the summer, according to Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi.
“Nova is when a dying star emits a pulse of energy that gets absorbed essentially and sent out into the galaxy by a dead star. Now this star in particular, which is in the constellation, the northern crown, it’s been emitting Nova energy or Nova waves or whatever you want to call it regularly every 80 years. So it's getting back to that point in the cycle. And astronomers are seeing the signs that a nova emission is imminent, which means that it'll appear as the eighth star in a seven star constellation.”
When it becomes visible, the nova's light will have a similar brightness to Polaris, the North Star. One astronomer said the nova will look like a very bright new star in a constellation where it's not supposed to be.
Read the full story HERE.
And that’s today’s news! For a deeper dive into the people and issues that affect Wyoming, check out The Roundup, video conversations with the most interesting people in the Cowboy State. A new episode drops tomorrow, when I have a conversation with Wyoming Historian Clay Gibbons. You can find the link on our website, on our YouTube Channel, and wherever you get your podcasts. And of course, you'll find it in our FREE daily newsletter!
Thanks for tuning in - I’m Wendy Corr, for Cowboy State Daily.
Radio Stations
The following radio stations are airing Cowboy State Daily Radio on weekday mornings, afternoons and evenings. More radio stations will be added soon.
KYDT 103.1 FM – Sundance
KBFS 1450 AM — Sundance
KYCN 1340 AM / 92.7 FM — Wheatland
KZEW 101.7 FM — Wheatland
KANT 104.1 FM — Guernsey
KZQL 105.5 FM — Casper
KMXW 92.5 FM — Casper
KBDY 102.1 FM — Saratoga
KTGA 99.3 FM — Saratoga
KJAX 93.5 FM — Jackson
KZWY 106.3 FM — Sheridan
KROE 930 AM / 103.9 FM — Sheridan
KWYO 1410 AM / 106.9 FM — Sheridan
KYOY 92.3 FM Hillsdale-Cheyenne / 106.9 FM Cheyenne
KRAE 1480 AM — Cheyenne
KDLY 97.5 FM — Lander
KOVE 1330 AM — Lander
KZMQ 100.3/102.3 FM — Cody, Powell, Medicine Wheel, Greybull, Basin, Meeteetse
KKLX 96.1 FM — Worland, Thermopolis, Ten Sleep, Greybull
KCGL 104.1 FM — Cody, Powell, Basin, Lovell, Clark, Red Lodge, MT
KTAG 97.9 FM — Cody, Powell, Basin
KCWB 92.1 FM — Cody, Powell, Basin
KVGL 105.7 FM — Worland, Thermopolis, Basin, Ten Sleep
KODI 1400 AM / 96.7 FM — Cody, Powell, Lovell, Basin, Clark, Red Lodge
KWOR 1340 AM / 104.7 FM — Worland, Thermopolis, Ten Sleep
KREO 93.5 FM — Sweetwater and Sublette Counties
KGOS 1490 AM — Goshen County
KERM 98.3 FM — Goshen County
Check with individual radio stations for airtime of the newscasts.
